All images are taken from in game, edited myself, or taken from here or here. Or they are sourced.
Greeting everyone and welcome to another gods unchained post, this time we are talking about the upcoming set that releases tomorrow. It is only available through pack purchases and features 6 cards for each god and a spattering of about 9 neutrals. The cards themselves are fun and thematic, but I am still not a fan on focusing a whole archtype around using 1 card to survive or function at all indefinitely (never have been a fan of those sort of designs even outside of GU). I'm excited for a change to the meta and to see what comes from this absolutely mega strong expansion set.
These new cards that you can check out here really will change the upcoming meta (if people decide to participate in owning and playing new cards). There are some fun designs in this set and not a single weak card outside of maybe the shitty neutral olympian. Overindulged Centurion is a terrible card and a poor excuse for order tech, hate to say it but that card is by far the worst in the set. This set revisits tempt fate and expands upon everborns for the most part.
These cards are all rather good, they have strong bodies for the mana and pretty strong effects. The everborn nature cards are rather strong and hinge on 1 relic in a previous set, but are still potentially going to be meta shaping in the future.
Frothing pika is a 2/3 for 2 with tempt fate and no downside. To top it off it has a stacking effect if you play another tempt fate card. Overall a solid card, basically a more reliable of the fox.
Attuned to the Biome is a very strong card and synergizes with a ton of existing tech for green. This card will be used in the upcoming meta, I guarantee it. Strong card, completely breaks nature out of it's mold in more ways than one.
Malicious Mangrove is a pretty fairly statted creature with multiple keywords. I would say this card is good overall, the regen is more a bonus and less a core feature.
Lichen Mimic is an incredibly strong card within the everborn archtype and allows for a lot of crazy plays with cards that normally can't be duplicated. Very strong, will see some play.
My so called champion is a very interesting card that is a guaranteed tutor AND a removal for 4 mana. Neat, but not too strong compared to existing nature stuff but does exponentially stack on things. Strong.
The maddening one is nuts, the effect is nuts. This card is honestly pretty crazy, the stats effect and enduring "remove me or continue to get fucked" sortof aspect of it is really strong at potentially 5ish mana. Very strong.
Deception definitely got a few juicey toys this set. Schemes within schemes and "The Key" are pretty obviously supposed to be used together potentially bringing a relic that removes the entire deck out in the very early game. There hasn't been much new relic removal printed outside of the new everborn card either. Thankfully GU has a lot of older relic removal cards I suppose. Most of these cards are self explanatory and provide either endless pressure (hooded figure), extra removals (double vision, sacrifices will be made), drawing (sacrifices will be made), or a weird combination of things (undercover insurgent). No matter which way you slice it deception got some toys to play with that are easy to slot in to various existing decks. Fun!
War gets a lot of interesting cards this set, all of them are pretty interesting designwise (strength aside). Pretty fun stuff. The new direction focuses on multitribal synergies, very into it a lot of existing cards make these additions to war strong indeed.
Sunbleached Gargoyle is a strong defender or attacker for 5 mana, will see a lot of play and generation via shards. Strong card
Consumed by battle is a card that benefits mixed builds, it will be interesting to see what the zoo players come up with to maximize the value from this one. Good card, needs to be built into.
Harnessed Antlion is a well statted 4 drop minion that pulls 3 cost spells from your deck. Seems pretty fucking good to me.
Ensnared chargers is a pretty crazy card that can wipe a board with one attack, very strong. Everborns for war are going bananas in this set. These cards are strong even outside of everborn.
Brash freeman is a strong card, even at base it likely has at least 2 damage for it and whatever tribe your opponent controls and can stack beyond that based on how "zoo" either of you are. Interesting card, very fun and potentially a strong effect if used right. Well designed.
The garrison on the edge is a VERY interesting card that I personally find enjoyable and lore thematic. I imagine it's what stops the game ending
9 mana drop (see later) that was printed for everborns. Pretty cool and a pretty strong card. There are a lot of structure specific removal cards in GU so I don't see this becoming a problem really, the immediate on play effect is pretty cool though for a stonks frontline body. Very strong.
Death got reinforcements for it's older archtypes and tribals like anubians (but they also received a late game everborn and a strange aggro nether focused around a more zooish sort of deck). They are all strong and utile and pretty obvious to interpret, but I'll be dropping a tier list later explaining in more detail a few of these cards and why they are strong if it's still too vague.
The legendary light has printed this set buffs Irina light (pretty crazy to think about). A lot of the other cards are actually pretty interesting and sortof require building into to really shine. Nothing is weak persay but it's less general use than light and luster etc. of of the past. Interesting and strong cards, the only one that might see a change is the leggy methinks. Overall I like these cards, they do interesting things in interesting archtypes.
Mage got a massive shot in the arm for it's everborn archtype, Pallas seems honestly insane (genuinely a game ending 6 drop if left unremoved for even a turn), and a lot of the other cards actually just seem strong and utile. Nothing particularly crazy, but everything else is well stated. The 3 mana obliterate spell that heals both gods is a unique addition to mage and will help against Blackfire fledgling, which GU is still struggling to deal with since print (like much of tides of fate). Giving mage an everborn that transforms an enemy also gives it a strong edge in mirrors (ie transforming an all consuming into a 4/1 is pretty devastating)
These neutrals are strong and many of them fit in whichever deck. The 1 mana 4/4 everborn is pretty damn good (in any deck honestly),entangling horde is a strong 5 drop (not as overpowered as previously thought but still, the great finality can end the game with manasurge 12 (not achievable for most gods) but is more likely to be delved than to be actually slotted into a deck. Mycellium bloom is a good card that offers sporo generation outside of the broken seal, not to be underestimated and seems like a perfect setup for entangling horde. Biomass reconditioner and unique tactician are tech cards. Biomass does the standard "void reomval" slot in everborns (everborns definitely have it all at this point), whereas unique tactician offers something that basically removes "unit spamming" as a gameplay mechanic for low hp creatures like mayday or sporophytes. Interesting card indeed. The One Who Remembers card is quite fun and genuinely will be enjoyed by a few dragon players I know, good card for the right highland style deck or singleton. Reader of bones seems like a strong card in a deck featuring various tempt fate cards, without using it's ability 3/4 for 3 mana gets outstatted pretty quickly in GU.
I will be making a tierlist the day of the set and posting it here shortly after, let me just say I think almost every card in this set is pretty damn good considering. There isn't a garbage card outside of Overindulged Centurion (who is pretty garbage and wont be run in any deck outside of shine maxxing). This set is going to completely change the meta (if anyone decides to actually buy new cards and use them), but we may just stay stuck in our shine sickness. Since the only method these cards can enter the meta is direct purchase and there is not a way to actually play to obtain the new cards, there is a high likelihood this set won't see high participation or meta proliferation (info here). Not to mention there are only like 200 copies of broken seal so even if people wanted to only a couple hundred players could even use many of the new cards. It's going to be an interesting time in GU, and expect a very fun event tomorrow to kick off the launch. There is a lot of fun in store for you guys.
Thanks for reading this post, hitting that like button, commenting, or whatever else it is you did. Hell even just not throwing your computer out the window after viewing this is a compliment in my book. I still enjoy playing GU and still look forward to new cards, but I am a bit hesitant about these design funnels that are being made. It's not unheard of, it's just pretty risky in a game like GU with a limited supply of cards. In something like hearthstone these design directions don't really matter because there would be an endless amount of broken seals for those who wish to craft them, GU doesn't have that. So it's a tough position to design around. Anyway, Rex signing off and I'll see you folks tomorrow partying like a squeak and dropping that tierlist.
